01. Asteroid - Supernova 02. Asteroid - Anagram 03. Asteroid - Hexagon 04. Asteroid - Sim-Sala-Bim 05. Asteroid - Walk Alone 06. Asteroid - The Big Trip Beyond 07. Blowback - Holy Skies 08. Blowback - Autumn Leaf 09. Blowback - Fairy's Dance 10. Blowback - Cosmic Dust 11. Blowback - The Architect 12. Blowback - Invisible Touch

There's been some heavy hype surrounding this split ever since Fuzzorama Records announced their plans to release it. Not many times before have I received so many questions about an upcoming release. The reasons for this are numerous, Fuzzorama’s marketing and available pre-listens on their site being an important part. However, biggest hype has been created by the bands themselves through the release of some very nice demos last year.

Asteroid are first up on this split, delivering their fuzzed out heavy rock mixed up with 70's Swedish prog influences. Opening song ''Supernova'' sets a nice mood and the grooves of this three-piece are unmistakable. Especially the guitar work and vocals leave some memorable rings on the bongwater. Grooving ''Sim-Sala-Bim'' holds some hip dislocating riffs and something I've come to appreciate about this band...the lyrics, in this case loving praises to a girl named Mary Jane and her sweet smell, hehe. In my opinion, Asteroid will become a very interesting band if they give in to their psychadelic side. Robin Hirse displays some very mellow and hazy guitar playing at times and it's during these moments this band feels the best to me. Psyched out minds... like in their strongest contribution to this split, ending ''The Big Trip Beyond''.... sounding improvised, jamming and very desertish.

Taking care of the second part of this split are Blowback, who in my opinion released last years best demo. The masters of facial hair and the inner space return with a slightly altered approach to their Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelin/November influenced stonerrock. They are harder, fuzzier and singer Stefan sounds like in heavy need of a Prozac-sandwich. The desperation in this man’s voice sends shivers up my spine and fits this kind of music perfectly. Very cool to hear that he has started to explore the depths of his voice and mind, adding some very memorable moments to this recording. Even though Blowback do sound a bit different than on the demo their trademarks remain intact. The melodies, nerve and tight delivery this band lays down leaves no one unmoved. I've seen them without problems holding their own playing with bands like Generous Maria, Stonewall Noise Orchestra and Firestone and the overall loving reactions on last year’s effort have contributed to some nice changes in their songwriting. There are several laid back passages where guitarist Seb displays some serious drugged out state of mind. The often mellow, trippy solos of this hippie are fucking awesome, adding a dimension that was lacking before, making the songs more varied and psyched. Choosing favorites among Blowback's songs is like having to find a favorite between your children....impossible. But if you put a gun to my head, I’d say ''Fairy's Dance'' and especially ''The Architect'' are the best Blowback songs to date.

Summing things up I'd say this release is a very strong candidate for split of the year.

www.asteroid.se
www.myspace.com/asteroidband
www.blowback.se
www.myspace.com/blowbackband
www.fuzzoramarecords.com